Stockholders Equity - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)		1 Months Ended					3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2013 Dividend Declared	May 20, 2013 Special Dividend	Apr. 30, 2013 Special Dividend	Apr. 30, 2013 Maximum Dividend Declared	May 20, 2013 Restricted stock	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock	Sep. 30, 2012 Restricted stock	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock	Sep. 30, 2012 Restricted stock	Dec. 31, 2012 Restricted stock	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock Special Dividend	May 20, 2013 Restricted stock Employees And Non Employee Directors	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock Officers And Executive Officers	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock Other Employees	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock General and Administrative Expense	Sep. 30, 2012 Restricted stock General and Administrative Expense	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock General and Administrative Expense	Sep. 30, 2012 Restricted stock General and Administrative Expense	Dec. 31, 2012 Restricted stock General and Administrative Expense	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock Operating Expense	Sep. 30, 2012 Restricted stock Operating Expense	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock Operating Expense	Sep. 30, 2012 Restricted stock Operating Expense	Dec. 31, 2012 Restricted stock Operating Expense	May 20, 2013 Restricted Stock And Units	May 20, 2013 Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)	Sep. 30, 2013 Stock options	Sep. 30, 2012 Stock options	Sep. 30, 2013 Stock options Person	Sep. 30, 2012 Stock options
Employee Service Share-based Compensation, Allocation of Recognized Period Costs [Line Items]
Dividend declared		$ 675,000,000
Dividend declared per share		$ 6.66
Dividend declared payment date		May 20, 2013
Dividend declared record date		Apr. 19, 2013
Dividend declared, maximum percentage of cash dividend					20.00%
Dividend declared, cash					135,000,000
Number of shares of CCA common stock distributed pursuant to the special dividend			13,900,000	13,900,000
Closing price of common stock	$ 38.90
Restricted common stock and common stock units and stock options issued by CCA to certain of its employees									415,000		349,000		139,000					369,000		290,000			46,000		59,000
Fair value of restricted common stock and common stock units and stock options issued by CCA to certain of its employees									15,300,000		9,200,000
Special dividend on common stock						2,800,000																				6,100,000	3,300,000
Vesting period														3 years
Performance criteria, cumulative period														3 years
Percent of awards eligible to vest														33.33%
Vesting period, continuous service requirement															3 years
Allocated share-based compensation expense							2,600,000	2,000,000	7,300,000	5,600,000						2,300,000	1,700,000	6,400,000	4,800,000		300,000	300,000	900,000	800,000
Restricted common stock and common stock units remained outstanding and subject to vesting							938,000		938,000			123,000
Expense net of estimated forfeitures, relating to common stock options																												$ 700,000	$ 1,200,000	$ 2,400,000	$ 3,500,000
Adjustment factor that resulted in the increase of number of share																														1.175
Number of employees and non-employee directors affected by the adjustment factor																														49
Incremental Options awarded as a result of the adjustment factor																														500,000
Common stock options outstanding																												2,800,000		2,800,000
Weighted average exercise price of common stock outstanding																												$ 18.98		$ 18.98